Re: “Supervisors find Civic Center plan ‘exciting’” [Front page, Feb. 24]: The article about the proposed new Civic Center creates more questions than answers, at least for the citizens paying the tab.

The 30-year project is estimated to cost $300 million, but virtually every government cost estimation exceeds its budget, so count on huge cost overruns. Even $300 million is a tremendous burden for the taxpayers, but it’s just a number to the politicians. As the late Sen. Everett Dirksen said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”

And there’s so much more wrong with this proposal beside the obscene costs. Supervisor Todd Spitzer lamented the “shameless” way county employees were treated. I wonder how those poor employees would like working in the private sector, with its shameful buildings, lower pay and considerably worse benefits and retirement. At this point, it’s impossible to sympathize with government employees about anything.

It gets worse. There will be no voter approval and the Board of Supervisors hasn’t indicated how the county will fund the new buildings. However, they do claim that more than half the costs will be offset by increased revenue, and that it will save money. I’d like to see the numbers on that. Beware of politicians promising to save taxpayers money.

I think the county should live within its income, just as we citizens do. This is simply more government expansion that needs to be stopped in its tracks.

John Knox

San Clemente

Taxing Trump

Mitt Romney’s questioning whether Donald Trump will release his past tax returns is a good start. However, will Trump vow to put his assets into a “blind trust” if he is elected president, as Romney vowed to do?

Geno G. Bokosky

Irvine

Prop. 47 harms victims

Prop. 47 is the perfect example of political correctness versus common sense. Prop. 47 attempted to manufacture victims out of criminals yet the truth has plainly come out: Crooks are crooks. Anyone with common sense vehemently opposed Prop. 47, and the predictions of significant increases in crime have come to pass. Turning felonies into misdemeanors is the recipe for carnage. Common sense will always trump political correctness.

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